CT Pour Tour Kicks Off

The craft beer community of Connecticut has been buzzing lately about the CT Pour Tour. One man has taken on the task of visiting every single town in Connecticut and having a beer in each one, all while raising money for children’s cancer research. This is no new task for Todd- in 2013 he successfully visited and had a beer in every town in his home of Massachusetts. I chatted with Todd this week to get a little background on what he’s doing.

Can you give me a little background on the pour tours? What made you want to take on this endeavor, and why did you choose the charities you did?

Last year I tried to list every town in MA and could only come up with about 150 out of the 351. When I looked at a map I was shocked that there were so many towns I’d never heard of. I said I was going to have a beer in every one and raise money for children’s cancer which is a lifelong goal of mine. The reason I chose children’s cancer is just from seeing little kids with no hair. It’s so sad.

How have you gone about setting up what towns you visit and when?

I’ve been lucky to get a lot of media attention so most of the bars at this point contact me. I will talk to the bars and we will set up a date for my visit. When I get to the bar sometimes they have raffle prizes set up to raise money. The most I’ve raised in one town so far was $7,000 in Lunenburg, MA.

Were you familiar with Connecticut before you started to map out your tour? Did you find many towns that you hadn’t heard of or been to?

I live about a half hour from CT so I am a little familiar, but there a lot of towns that I’ve never heard of. There are about 10 towns that don’t have a place to drink so for those towns I depend on a resident to have me over. Some guy just contacted me and is going to take me for a boat ride in Marlborough CT where there are no bars.

Has it been easy to find places to have a beer in each town? What towns were the most difficult for you to find a bar in?

The people that follow me on FB and Twitter have been amazing. I get suggestions all day long from people. The hardest towns so far for me are Bozrah, Hampton, Bridgewater (The only dry town), and Easton. I really need someone in each of these towns to let me come over to cross their town off of the list. Most people are happy to do it.

Connecticut breweries have been growing quickly in number; I know you kicked off the tour at 2 Roads last weekend- are there any other CT breweries coming soon on your list?

When I looked in to doing CT I didn’t even think beer was that popular there. Then I did some research and saw there are over 30 breweries, and craft beer is absolutely huge! I am excited to see a lot of the breweries. New England Brewing, Thimble Island, Hooker, and Back East to name a few.

What are you listening to in the car as you drive to each stop?

I like alternative music and top 40 (hate to admit it). I mostly keep it on 104.1 [WMRQ] while I’m in CT.

What is your favorite beer style to drink?

I like hoppy beers. The hoppier, the better.

Todd’s website gives all the information about when he’s visiting specific towns, and you can also contact him with suggestions of places to visit. You can also get updates from his Facebook and Twitter.